Death is but a Door
by SnarkyShinx
Summary: "First your mate will fall. Then your kits. Then once everyone you love and care about is dead, you shall follow them to the afterlife. Death is but a door. Make no mistake, I will be back." Another challenge for Clan of Clouds. You all are amazing!
1. Death is but a Door: Part 1

_Heavy rain poured in through the camp walls, washing away the scarlet pools staining the clearing. Loud cracks of thunder split through the air as if the clearing inhabitants were truly yowling their fury to the stars. The gathered felines hunched in a small semi-circle, pelts bristling with fear and pure rage. A snarling blur of black and white fur was thrown into the center, her pelt hardly recognizable due to the blood stains._

_The she-cat glared up at the one who threw her forward, her dark amber eyes slitted and teeth bared as she hissed loud enough to challenge the other caterwauling cats. Despite the heavy crimson spatter, her face was almost untouched, revealing a hideous split-face. One side was black- the other side white._

_"From the day you were born I knew you'd be nothing but trouble," hissed a slate stone colored tom, looming closer with each step. "And now, you've taken the ultimate price; you've killed Lightstar." At his tail flick, two warriors brought forth the bloody body of their deceased leader. Her golden pelt matted with blood and a long slit along her throat. Her blue orbs now dull and lifeless._

_"And what are you going to do about it?" sneered the color split she-cat, lips curled back in a snarl. "Banish me?"_

_"Banishment is too good for you, Splitface," the stone furred tom growled, using her name that truly fit her looks. The other surrounding felines snarled and hissed their agreement. "I Stonesoul, deputy of ThunderClan, look down on this warrior- no, this fox-heart- and hereby pass her sentence: execution."_

_Without hesitation or warning, the deputy shot forward with a single swift motion. His claws held her by the shoulders, pinning her against the muddy earth._

_"You fool!" Splitface roared in fury, thrashing wildly. "I could've made ThunderClan great! The most powerful Clan in the forest! A Clan to challenge the ranks of StarClan themselves! Lightstar was too blind to see the future! I will still rise ThunderClan to the top! No one can stop me!" The mad she-cat broke out in cackles, throwing a hacking fit until Stonesoul's claws met her throat. Blood sprayed everywhere, Splitface jerking into silence. With the remaining breath of life she managed to hiss;_

_"You fox-hearts. You'll all die. Starting with Stonesoul." Her pained amber gaze floated to the large gray tom. "First your mate will fall. Then your kits. Then once everyone you love and care about is dead, you shall follow them to the afterlife. Death is but a door. Make no mistake, I will be back."_

_"You're an insane she-cat who spouts nonsense. You will die a traitor to your Clan," Stonesoul snarled, burying his sharp ivory teeth into her already bloody throat. A strangled yowl escaped the black and white she-cat's parted jaw. Within moments her body stopped convulsing and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Stonesoul stepped back, grooming his mud and blood caked pelt. "Get her out of here," he demanded, ordering a set of warriors to take her out of camp. "Dump her in the river for all I care; I never want to see her ugly muzzle again."_

_The warriors complied, picking up the mangled body of their former clanmate and hauled her bloody corpse out of camp._

"So you better behave yourselves or else Splitface will come and get you." The forced spooky voice echoed through the nursery walls wherein sat two eager kits.

"Rainwing, is that story true?" squeaked a pale yellow tabby she-cat, stepping forward to question the blue furred queen.

"Of course it's not true!" spat her littermate- a gray tabby. "Who ever heard of a cat coming back to life? It's not possible!"

"Oh, Pebblekit. Always the skeptic," sighed the blue-gray queen. "You can decide whether or not you think the story is true. Now go run along and play with Duskpaw. I'm sure he'd be willing to show you the hunter's crouch."

"Hear that Yarrowkit?" squealed Pebblekit, already charging for the entrance as fast her little gray paws would take her. "Duskpaw'll teach us the hunting crouch!"

"I heard, I heard!" mewed the pale yellow kit, racing after her sibling with equal if not more speed. Back in the nursery walls, Rainwing sighed and slumped into her nest. Moments later, a light yellow tabby waltzed in.

"You've been telling them stories again, haven't you?" she began impatiently. "I've told you once and a thousand times- Yarrowkit and Pebblekit need no knowledge of that bloodthirsty flea-pelt. She was power hungry and driven by that hunger. She's dead and won't come back, you hear? Great StarClan! How many of my kits are you going to poison with lies? That mange pelt is dead and that's all that matters. Drop it, Rainwing."

"You are all skeptics," Rainwing meowed evenly, blue gaze cast downwards. "Truth were in her words. I can feel it. 'Death is but a door.' She will return. Whether you like it or not."


	2. Death is but a Door: Part 2

Sun dapples appeared upon the yellow tabby's pelt, her blue eyes shining brightly as the dawn's light. Breathing in the crisp, green-leaf air, the queen trotted away from the nursery's entrance with her sight set on a plump squirrel at the top of the prey heap. Her left forepaw departed the earth and prepared to snag the desired prey with a claw. However, a quick blur of stone gray swiped it first.

"Hey!" the yellow tabby hissed in disbelief. "That was my squirrel!"

The thief let out a _mrrow_ of laughter, his dark blue orbs meeting the tabby's similar aqua. "Then I suppose the pretty queen wouldn't mind if I shared?" The said feline was none other than Stonestar himself, letting amusement get the best of him when joking with his mate- Dawnfur.

Dawnfur's features creased into a mock scowl. They fell back into a gleeful smile. "It would be my honor, Stonestar. A humble queen like myself in the presence of ThunderClan's leader. Oh, what would the others say?"

"That you're the luckiest she-cat in the world," Stonestar purred, bumping muzzles with his mate. Dawnfur returned the purr and slowly slid down to her haunches and bowed her head, taking the first bite of the squirrel. Stonestar, proud leader of ThunderClan, followed suit.

As the squirrel meat dwindled and bellies got full, both Dawnfur and Stonestar rolled to their sides and basked in the sunlight. The queen's whiskers twitched in content. Soft pawsteps neared the duo and in front of them halted a large white tom. "Stonestar, I wish for your presence. Alone." The tom's blue gaze directed to Dawnfur.

In response, the fur along the queen's spine bristled. She would've hissed something but Stonestar held her back. "My dear Dawnfur, why don't you go on patrol? You could use some sun and I do believe Cloudfall wants my undivided attention. Can't give him any attention with you around, now can I?"

"Put it that way," Dawnfur purred silkily, rising to her paws and sauntered off. With some soft persuasion, the yellow tabby was able to convince Bramblespots to let her on his patrol. They were joined by his apprentice Poppypaw, and Oakclaw. The grouping of four felines glanced one final time around the camp before the brown tabby took the lead through the bramble barrier. Through the undergrowth, Poppypaw began chattering loudly.

"You know my assessment's coming up, right?" she babbled on to Dawnfur at the rear of the patrol. "Bramblespots says I'll be a warrior by the end of next moon. I'll be able to go to a gathering as a warrior! Isn't that exciting? Seedpaw and Duskpaw are going to become warriors too! I wonder what my warrior name will be. Maybe Poppyfall? Or Poppyclaw for my fighting skills! No wait- Poppyspots! After my mentor! What do you think of that, Dawnfur? Speaking of Dawnfur, did you ever have a specific name in mind? Did you get it or was it not what you wanted? I bet it was like Dawnstrike, or Dawnblaze, something cool and fiery but Lightstar named you Dawnfur instead. I'm right, aren't I?"

_Someone shut this kit up!_ Dawnfur thought in irritation. She would've told off the apprentice herself but with her mentor here she decided to hold back.

"Poppypaw," Oakclaw boomed from the front. "Quiet down; we're supposed to be hunting. And besides, Lightstar is not a name we mention." The apprentice's ears flattened against her head in embarrassment, her head bowed as she fell into a lapse of silence. As the foliage around them rustled next to their pelts, the patrol gradually split apart. Oakclaw was the first to pad off in the lead, Bramblespots took Poppypaw further into the forest in the direction of Snake Rocks. This left Dawnfur alone as she took her hunting towards the RiverClan border.

Her yellow figure emerged from the trees, her soft pads touching the pebbly shore. Her pink nose twitched in search of prey. The queen suddenly froze in her tracks, her crown turned to a ghostly, black and white shape perched almost elegantly atop the largest boulder in the Sunning Rocks. The feline's pelt was horribly torn and matted, dark amber eyes reflecting bloodlust. Her face was...split...right down the center was the split of black and white fur...

"No..." Dawnfur gasped in disbelief, her voice no more than a whisper. Rainwing's stories flooded her mind.

"Yes," the feline cracked a most unpleasant grin, sending shivers down the yellow tabby's spine. "Dawnfur; mate of Stonestar- the cat who put me in my place. No kin of that flea-pelt deserves to live after what they did to me." Gracefully, the famed black and white she-cat lept from her place atop the rocks and pinned Dawnfur with a paw on her throat.

"I had nothing to do with that!" Dawnfur choked, the pressure on her throat becoming unbearable. "I was his mate after your death! My kits weren't born until moons after you left the Clan! It wasn't my fault! It wasn't my-" Her voice was cut off completely as a long slit appeared in her throat, a geyser of crimson exploding around the area.

The murderer stepped back and licked the blood from her claws, calmly purring at her success. "One down, three to go."


	3. Death is but a Door: Part 3

Thunder rumbled through the earth. The bramble barrier rustled and seconds following a patrol of three burst into the clearing, eyes wide and breathing heavily. Equal startled expressions came from the other felines in the camp as they gathering around the returning group standing rigid and tense. Confused murmurs passed through the crowd until the stone furred leader shoved his way to the patrol.

"What's going on here?" he demanded, blue eyes narrowed at the shuddering patrol.

Oakclaw regained his voice first, stepping forward to face his impatient leader. "We were out hunting...we split up. Dawnfur went out on her own towards Sunning Rocks. We were too late..." As he paused, the lifeless body of Stonestar's mate was nudged into view, earning gasps of dismay from the crowd.

"Mama? What's wrong with mama?" whined Yarrowkit, stepping forward with Pebblekit.

"Why's she on the ground?" the gray tabby questioned. "Is she asleep? Why're her eyes open like that? Mama?"

"Rainwing, get them back in the nursery," Stonestar growled coldly to the blue-gray queen. She dipped her head and herded her friend's kits back toward the nursery. "I'm going to murder the RiverClan scum that dare kill Dawnfur like this."

"That's the thing," Bramblespots mewed quietly. "She bore no RiverClan scent, nor were the borders crossed. Dawnfur was killed by a ThunderClan cat."

"Impossible!" Stonestar roared. "I have no traitors in this Clan! Begone from my sight. I wish to mourn alone."

Leaving the distraught leader at his mate's side, the remaining ThunderClan felines departed the clearing and begrudgingly resumed their duties. But, as they were all caught up with grief, everyone failed to notice the ghostly figure slink along the camp walls, their amber eyes directed to the nursery. The figure made quick steps in silence, slithering through a gap between the nursery and the elders den. From her hidden alcove, the ghostly feline could make out voices on either side.

"Isn't it sad, Quiettongue? Dawnfur's death? Poor Stonestar must be traumatized," a soft, she-cat's voice spoke to the mute occupant of the elders den. The ghostly feline could hear no response from the other cat, the silver furred tabby being true to her name. On the other side, she could make out voices. Kit voices.

"But Rainwing," came a whiny mew. "Why can't Dawnfur wake up? Why won't mama come be with us?"

_So these are Dawnfur's kits,_ thought the ghostly feline darkly, an evil grin already forming. Rainwing's strained sigh echoed through the walls. "Sorry kits, but Dawnfur is not coming back."

"Doesn't she love us? Why would she leave us alone?" wailed another kit- presumably the first's littermate.

"Dawnfur loves you both very much," Rainwing meowed with a smile. Though it was forced. "Come now, I think we all just need a calm nap." With that said, the blue-gray queen herded the kittens into her nest. She wrapped a fluffy tail around them for warmth and protection. Like with Duskpaw, Seedpaw, and Poppypaw, she would keep these kits safe. As if they were her own, for as of today, Yarrowkit and Pebblekit were essentially hers.

After the trio had been successfully silent and deep in sleep, Pebblekit was the first to break the silence with a hushed whisper. "Yarrowkit. Yarrowkit."

"Hmm?" her sister's head lifted as she yawned. "What is it?" Pebblekit glanced around cautiously before answering, "You heard the other cats. What happened to mama had something to do with RiverClan. I say we go out and figure out what happened."

"You saying we should leave the camp?" Yarrowkit's eyes widened. The gray tabby nodded proudly, climbing over Rainwing's tail and taking a few steps around the nursery floor.

Yarrowkit looked uneasy but the thought of figuring out what happened to Dawnfur was intriguing. With that in mind, the two tabbies scurried out past the bramble entrance and looked around the camp clearing. Their nap had them sleeping through the rest of the day and now the orange glow through the trees signified sunset. By now there was no commotion in the clearing, many of the cats had already departed to their dens.

"Now!" hissed Pebblekit to her pale yellow sibling before rocketing at full speed across the dusty clearing. Yarrowkit held her pace right next to her sibling, equally flushed with excitement as she took the lead and darted past the thorn barrier. Pebblekit scoffed to herself in annoyance but said nothing as she regained her place beside her sister. Taking into consideration their small size and limited knowledge of the forest, it was a wonder they didn't hurt themselves right away.

"Hey kits," a sweet voice echoed around them, the two tabbies halting in their tracks. Frantically, Pebblekit looked around with wide blue eyes while Yarrowkit cowered beside her sister. From the foliage, a messy furred, black and white she-cat emerged. She bore a pleasant smile, her dark amber eyes revealing warmth and friendliness. Despite her almost hideous split face disorder, the she-cat seemed nice enough.

"Who are you?" Pebblekit stuttered, trying to put confidence in her voice as she puffed out her white chest. The black and white feline purred softly. "A friend. Now, what would cute kittens like yourselves be out here at dusk? Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"We're looking for what happened to mother," Yarrowkit mewled weakly, following Pebblekit's lead in the sense of bravery. "Father wouldn't tell us but we know it had something to do with RiverClan."

"You must mean Dawnfur," the she-cat mewed with a depressive sigh. "I know what happened to her. If you wish to find out, I suggest you follow." Without a second glance, the kittens followed their savior through the undergrowth, eagerly waiting to figure out what had happened to Dawnfur. Instead of leading them to the RiverClan border, the black and white feline halted by a small clump of leaves and scarlet red berries.

"What do berries have to do with anything?" Yarrowkit looked confused, sniffing at the tiny red dots among green.

"I'd thought you might like a treat," the she-cat mewed with a bright smile. "For being such clever kits and all. Go on, eat up." _Three down and one to go._

Shrugging to themselves once, both kits snagged several berries from the bush, chewed and swallowed.


	4. Death is but a Door: Finale

"No..." Stonestar whispered weakly, tears brimming in his dark blue orbs as he stared down sadly at the limp bodies of his only kits. "First Dawnfur, now Yarrowkit and Pebblekit. What's next- my deputy? My medicine cat? Apprentices? Warriors? Who would do such a thing?" By now, the large stone furred tom was growling, still convinced RiverClan was murdering his cats. However, the next gathering was still a quarter-moon away. How many more deaths would occur until then?

"They've been eating deathberries," Sunmask announced solemnly, inspecting the crushed red paste between the kits' pearl white teeth. "Poisoning kits, how far will this go?"

"As far as RiverClan takes it," Stonestar growled, lifting his head. "Bramblespots! Take a patrol to the RiverClan border! I want it guarded and made sure no cat crosses. Thistlenose! You take a patrol to the ShadowClan border! I don't want those night-stalkers to get cocky off our misfortune. Ferndust! Hunting patrol! We'll need fresh prey!"

The three named cats sped off in different directions, gathering fellow felines for each patrol. The clearing became a jumbled mass of miniature chaos before it all settled and most of the camp was no empty.

"Have the elders bury them next to Dawnfur," Stonestar ordered Sunmask, making angry strides towards his den. He shoved past the ferns lining it and crashed into his nest with an ungraceful flop. He hissed out his fury before the enraged snarls became choked with tears. First Dawnfur, then his kits. Why did this sound so familiar?

_"First your mate will fall. Then your kits. Then once everyone you love and care about is dead, you shall follow them to the afterlife. Death is but a door. Make no mistake, I will be back."_

"No!" Stonestar yowled in panic, memories flashing through a mourning mind. He whirled around, fear lining his dark blue orbs as they met a set of dark amber.

"So you've figured it out then, how smart." Stonestar came face to face with the very cat he executed many moons ago. The cat with the split face. The amber-eyed Splitface. "I told you I would come back, did I not?" The black and white she-cat advanced with a small step, amber eyes glinting with malice and bloodlust. "Your mate has fallen. So have your kits. You know what's next."

Stonestar fell silent, his gaze directed at his paws in sadness. "Dawnfur has fallen. Yarrowkit has fallen. Pebblekit has fallen. I have fallen."

"So you have," Splitface purred, an overwhelming sense flooding the air that she had become the victor.

ThunderClan's leader's claws unsheathed, his dark gaze looking up at the smirking black and white feline. "Not without a fight!" he roared suddenly, lunging forward with a snarl. Splitface faded with a smirk, his claws slicing through nothing but empty air. As he whirled around, pain inflamed around his throat where ivory claws had struck moments before. He watched in horror as a waterfall of crimson scattered everywhere. Claws slashed at his belly and he felt the lives given to him drain away with each swipe. As his body hit the den floor, he weakly gazed up at his murderer with strained breaths. All of his lives had been taken within seconds.

"Pretty pathetic fight if you ask me," Splitface mewed lazily, cleaning her ruffled pelt. "But then again, no one else in your pathetic family put up a fight anyways." A smirk found its way onto her features. "Bye bye Stonestar." She swiped another set of claws across his throat before his orbs glassed over, dull and lifeless.

As she sat there, content and proud, Splitface grinned with accomplishment. "Four down, none to go. Revenge is sweet. I told you, Stonestar, I have returned. Death is but a door."


End file.
